Corrupted Values

Chapter Nineteen - The Cells

“Sergio made me kill the men we brought in. One was quick. I shot him, and we were done, but the other… I killed the man's wife in front of him and his kids. Then the kids watched as I killed him.” I rant. Zuria stands there, eyes wide, looking at me.

“... He made you kill them? When?” She asks, looking at me sympathetically.

“A few hours ago, but I guess I should have known what I was getting into when I joined this life. I just never thought I’d have to kill innocent people.” I say looking down at my muffin. I grabbed it hungry but now talking about this, I’ve lost my appetite.

“I’m sorry Azaliah…” She says, looking down. We sit in silence for a while before I decide to go to bed without eating anything. I would've never guessed this is how today was going to go.

“Good night.” I say with a sad smile.

“Night.” Zuria answers, returning the smile. I make my way upstairs to my room before flopping onto my bed. I let out a quiet sigh before turning onto my side and falling asleep.

“Get up!” A man yells before I sit up with a gasp from the surprising rush of cold water being thrown onto me.

“Good you're up. Change then come down to the cells.” The man says before making his way out of my room, closing the door behind him. I sit for a moment before getting up and changing. I quickly brush my teeth and hair, putting it up in a ponytail. I holster my knife and gun and go downstairs. A wave of panic hits me as I turn the corner to the hallway of doors once again. I look down the hall to see Sergio waiting for me next to an open door. I nervously make my way to him. He motions for me to enter the room and I do, without question, already knowing what to expect. I walk in to find a woman tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Soon Sergio joins me.

“Well?” He asks, raising his eyebrows. I look at the woman and take a breath. She’s been beaten. Her clothes are torn, making dark marks covering her body visible.

"Who is she?" I ask, looking at him. He stays silent, waiting for me to do as I'm told. I take out my gun and look back at him.

“Go on then.” He says before looking back at the terrified woman. I turn to her and bring my gun up to her head. I look down at her begging eyes before I look back at Sergio to see he's watching me closely.

"Either you kill her or I do, but I won't be merciful. It will be excruciating and slow," he says in a threatening tone. I look down at the woman again. She looks up at me with understanding eyes. She sits straight accepting her death, knowing if I do it it'll be quick. I pull the trigger and a silent tear falls before I quickly wipe it away.

“How many more times will you make me do this?” I ask not to dare face him and let him see my tear-filled eyes.

“Until you no longer look like this after taking a life.” He says emotionlessly before roughly grabbing my face and making me turn to him.

“You can’t be soft in this life. It'll be the death of you.” He says coldly before letting go and walking away to three other men in the room. He whispers to them before walking towards the door.

“Maybe… you need a new kind of lesson,” he says before closing the door and locking it. My eyes widen at the sudden motion. The three men suddenly surround me. I back away until I no longer can. Two of the men grab my arms, pinning me against the wall while the other punches me in the stomach repeatedly. After a while, they let go, and I fall to the ground, hitting my head and unable to hold myself up. They all take turns kicking me and stomping on me while I lay there taking it until I can no longer move. Once they decide they’re done, someone outside the room unlocks the door. Before they all leave, one of the men kneels down next to me.

"Next time, just do as you're told, and we won't need to do this again." He says in a sinister voice before they all walk out of the room, leaving me on the ground. I groan as I try to move but eventually end up passing out from the pain.

My eyes flutter awake, and I look around, but everything is blurry. I try to sit up but immediately get rushes of pain throughout my body, making me lay back down. I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the light, before I know it. The doctors and nurses are rushing in asking me a million questions a second and shining light in my eyes. My eyes slowly clear up and I can see again. I look around to see I lying on a medical bed and hooked up to a monitor.

“How are you feeling?” a soft voice asks. I look to my left to see Nina standing next to me.

“Nina? What-” I start to ask before flashes of memories come flooding back to me. I start to feel panic build as I remember what happened.

“Hey, it’s okay you're safe here.” She says reassuringly. I let out a breath before realizing Nina also aids the Caldeirdo Mafia.

“How can I be here if you also help the Caldeiro’s?” I ask, confused.

“This hospital is the biggest one in New York and so it’s on neutral grounds. Anyone with affiliations can come here seeking medical help.” She explains, smiling down at me.

“Did Nico tell you?” I ask quietly, having my curiosity get the best of me.

“Yes, but I won’t tell anyone,” she says as she looks at the monitor.

“Does he know?” I ask nervously.

“No. Nico didn’t tell him. He kept your secret.” She says sincerely, looking down at me.

“Azzy… What happened to you?” She asks while looking at my test results. Should I tell her the truth? I ask myself. I hear footsteps coming and decide it's better to lie.

“Nothing, Zuria and I were just doing some training, and it got out of hand.” I say smiling up at her. She furrows her brows, not seeming convinced by my reasoning. The door swings open and Andre enters the room, getting our attention.

“How is she?” He asks flatly.

“She has a minor concussion, internal bleeding and some bruising. She’ll heal up well, but we’d like to keep her for observation.” Nina says cheerfully with a smile.

“Fine. I’ll be staying with her.” He says coldly. Nina nods and looks down at me.

“Sorry, hospital rules. You can't.” Nina says sweetly with a smile. Andre scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“I’ll check on you tomorrow morning. Get some rest.” She says with a soft smile before she leaves the room with Andre following behind her. He closes the door behind them. I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, slowly drifting off to sleep. Not long later, I wake to a knock at my door.

“Azzy, can I come in?” Nina asks as she cracks the door open.

“Yeah.” I answer before she makes her way into the room, closing the door behind her. I look out the window to see it’s still dark outside.

“I brought someone to see you.” She says, catching my attention. I look back at her curiously. She turns and opens the door again.

“Remi?” I say, surprised.

“Hey Azzy.” Remi says, smiling as she walks over to me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, confused.

“Nina called me… Azzy what happened to you?” She asks, concerned, as she takes my hand in hers. I look down, feeling ashamed of what I'd done. I can't tell them what I did, or maybe it’s just that I don’t want to admit it to myself.

“Azzy. You can come back to the apartment if you need to.” Remi says comfortingly.

“No. It’s okay.” I say smiling reassuringly. Nina and Remi let out a breath before looking at each other and back to me.

“Well you have my number, just call me and I’ll come get you, okay?” Remi says in a counseling tone.

“We should get going. The hospital got a call saying the man that was here before will be coming to get you in a few hours and I wanted to make sure Remi could see you. I thought it would make you feel better,” Nina says, smiling down at me. She leans down and hugs me softly.

“Thanks Nina, and I’ll see you soon Remi.” I say smiling up at them. Remi hugs me gently before taking Nina’s hand. They look at each other, then look down at me before exiting the room. I lay in bed thinking about going back to Sergio’s house. Will they beat me again? What if I try harder? Will I ever impress him? I ask myself. As I lay here thinking to myself, another knock comes to the door and it opens.